Lake of Sorrows

“Ursula found you in there, didn’t she? Why was she upset or angry to find you there?”

“No, she wasn’t—”

“You left in quite a hurry,” Ward said. Charlie couldn’t understand how they knew all this. He was unsure of himself, and they kept the pressure on.

“When was the last time you saw Ursula?” Brennan asked.

“At the excavation site a couple of days ago, about five o’clock. They were finishing up for the day. I didn’t speak to her.”

“That’s not what we heard,” Ward said. “We have a statement from someone who overheard you talking with Ursula. She said she’d been watching you, didn’t she? She threatened to expose what you’d been hiding unless you did something for her. There’s a word for that sort of proposition; it’s called blackmail. What are you hiding, Charlie? And what did Ursula want from you in return?”

Charlie’s fingers gripped the metal cylinder more tightly, and his eyes hardened into steely blue stones. “Whoever told you all that was a liar. It never happened. Who was it told you that—Cadogan? He’s the one you ought to be asking about his relationship with Ursula Downes.”

“Are you saying you’ve seen them together?”

“If he denies it, ask him about the pipe shed on the back road to the old power station. I’ll say no more about it.”

“Where were you last night, Charlie?” Brennan asked.

He didn’t respond immediately, and his feet shifted nervously. He couldn’t look either one of them in the eye. “I had nothing to do with Ursula’s murder. I swear it.”

“Just tell us where you were. Start from the time you left work.”

Charlie finally looked up at Maureen. “I finished my shift at four and went home to get my dinner. After that, I fed and watered the cattle and mended a fence across the road where my mother keeps her sheep. One of the posts was a bit wobbly, so I had to see it was mended straightaway.”

“And what time did you finish all that?”

“About half-eight, I suppose. I don’t really know. I don’t wear a watch.”

“Well, what time did you get home?”

There was a brief silence. Charlie’s voice was low as he answered. “I didn’t.”

Ward saw Brennan glance over at him before she proceeded. “So where were you?”

“Up the hill behind the house. I had a big pile of dry scutch I’d been saving for a bonfire that night. It took a while to get the fire going well and I stayed beside it all night. I didn’t want it to burn out. I got home around half-six to do the foddering.”

“Where was this fire, exactly?”

“Top of the hill directly behind the house.”

“Did anyone else see it?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t build it for anyone else. It was my own thing.”

“What was the occasion?” Ward asked.

Charlie’s eyes remained downcast. “Midsummer’s eve. It’s supposed to bring good luck, putting ashes from the fire over the cattle.”

Brennan said, “So you’re telling us you just sat and poked at a fire all night? All on your own?”

“That’s all.” Charlie colored deeply. Was it something that innocent and personal, Ward wondered, or was he concealing something darker? Whichever it was, the boy couldn’t seem to raise his eyes from the floor. It wasn’t just luck for the cattle he’d been after. There was something more, something he wasn’t saying.

“I don’t know if you remember, Charlie, but you and I have had dealings before,” Ward said. “The business about some animals killed out on the bog. It’s a good few years ago now. I talked to you a couple of times about that.”

The young man’s voice was low and adamant. “I remember. And what are they saying now? ‘It must have been Charlie Brazil, he knew her, and remember what he did to those poor creatures.’ They all think I’m half cracked, but I’m not, and you know it. I didn’t do those things back then, and I did not kill Ursula Downes. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

They had reached a stalemate. It would be useless to go on, at least for the moment.

“Can I get back to my work now?”

Ward nodded, and Charlie Brazil switched on the grinder, ignoring them as they made their way back out through the workshop.

8

When they reached the Garda station, Cormac hesitated for a moment before they went inside. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket and handed them to Nora.

“Just in case you need them,” he said. He might as well have said what he was really thinking: Just in case they arrest me. “You can wait here for a while if you like, but I’m betting it’ll take more than a few minutes. Maybe I should just ring you when they’re finished with me.”

She took the keys, letting her fingers rest lightly on his upturned palm; then he turned and walked through the door. “Cormac Maguire,” he said to the officer at the front desk. “Here to see Detective Ward. He’s expecting me.”

Just a few moments after Ward had taken Cormac away to an interview room, Detective Brennan stuck her head through the inner door. “Dr. Gavin? If you’d come with me, we can have you sign your statement upstairs.”